Fans of "Nip/Tuck" were plenty willing to follow the show and its plastic surgeons to Los Angeles, based on ratings for the show's season premiere.

The FX series' fifth season debuted to an audience of 4.3 million people on Tuesday, down some from last season's premiere (at least for now) but up in at least one key demographic. The show also beat its broadcast competition in a couple of measures.

Better than 80 percent -- 3.5 million -- of the premiere's total audience fell into the adults 18-49 demographic. That was the best showing of the night on cable and the top showing of a scripted series on ad-supported cable this year; it also beat CBS' "Cane" in the demo. "Nip/Tuck" also beat all its timeslot competition among adults 18-34, drawing 2.2 million of those viewers.

For the entire night Tuesday, only FOX's "House" delivered more 18- to 34-year-old viewers.

"Nip/Tuck" kicked off its fifth season with Drs. Sean McNamara (Dylan Walsh) and Christian Troy (Julian McMahon) setting up shop in Los Angeles, where they become consultants on a TV show called "Hearts 'n Scalpels."

As things stand now, the "Nip/Tuck" premiere is down about 25 percent in total viewers from last year's 5.1 million and 5 percent (from 3.7 million) in adults 18-49 (it's up by 10 percent in adults 18-34). The 2006 numbers, however, also include DVR viewing up to a week later. Once DVR watching for Tuesday's premiere is factored in, FX expects it to surpass last year's audience.